In connection with absorbent articles such as diapers, pant diapers, incontinence shields for adults, and sanitary towels, there has long been a general need for materials and structures which are able to take up, distribute and absorb bodily excretions in a rapid and effective manner. Today's absorbent articles generally have good absorbency with a low risk of leakage and a high degree of comfort for the person wearing the absorbent article.
The requirement for effective absorbency in an absorbent article is important not least in the case of diapers for infants where there is a need for rapid uptake, distribution and absorption of urine and excrement. In this connection, it should be noted that newborn babies and also slightly older infants often produce excrement which is loose and runny in consistency. In today's diapers for infants, there is, for example, a risk of this loose excrement leaking out along the back of the person wearing the diaper. Such leakage may entail a risk of, for example, soiled clothes and bed linen. In general, it may be stated that, in connection with diapers for infants, ever greater demands are being placed on the ability to take up excrement via the surface material and absorption material of a diaper.
According to the prior art, a diaper can be designed with so-called extra inner barriers (inner leg gatherers) which form a seal by means of which excrement can be prevented from running out along the sides of the diaper. Another previously known way of achieving this is to use extra transverse pockets in the diaper, these pockets being designed to prevent leakage at the front or rear edge of the diaper.
With the two abovementioned solutions, leakage of excrement from a diaper is prevented in an effective manner. However, the problem still remains that the excrement can stay on the cover sheet of the diaper and soil the user. In addition, there is a risk of the user experiencing skin irritation in such a situation. This problem has in turn been solved in a known way by using a diaper with an extra cover sheet which comprises relatively large openings, for example a type of opening for taking up urine and excrement.
These solutions provide better protection for certain areas of the skin since the extra cover sheet isolates them. However, the problem still remains here that the excrement cannot penetrate down into the diaper. According to the prior art, this problem has been solved by using special cover sheets with small openings which also allow excrement to penetrate down into the structure.
The problem of the abovementioned solutions is that the absorption material which is located under the cover sheet that has been provided with openings can emerge through the openings and attach to the user's skin. This can involve cellulose fibers, superabsorbent particles or loose fibers of polymer material. This is unsatisfactory because it gives a visual impression of a diaper of poor quality. In addition, it makes cleaning the user's skin difficult, and in the worst cases the user may experience skin irritation.
The reason why the previously known cover sheets with openings do not function satisfactorily is that the openings extend in the x-y plane of the diaper (i.e. an imagined plane extending parallel to the surface of the diaper). The underlying absorption material is exposed in this way.
To get around this problem, it is already known to produce a diaper with openings which extend in the z plane of the diaper (i.e. at right angles to the x-y plane). An example of such a solution is described in Swedish patent number SE 449298.
A disadvantage of the solution according to SE 449298, however, is that the openings in the z direction can be easily compressed when the cover sheet is exposed to pressure during use.